Monique Dawes

Monique Dawes, OTD, OTR/L, CPAM, has over ten years of occupational therapy clinical experience. She started her career working in acute rehabilitation specializing in spinal cord injury rehabilitation before becoming a travel therapist. In this role she provided direct clinical services to patients with multiple diagnoses, educated colleagues on best practices for spinal cord injury care, completed program development, supervised students, and sat on hospital committees. As a travel therapist, she has worked in a variety of settings including acute care, acute and subacute rehab, home health, outpatient, and community practice. She was able to expand her clinical skills and gain first-hand knowledge of occupational therapy’s role in various settings with diverse populations.
Dawes has been a volunteer for Empower SCI, a community-based rehabilitation program for people with spinal cord injuries, since 2011. Every year, she has provided OT services in their two-week residential program in New York and since 2019 also volunteered for the one week Montana residential program. She has filled multiple roles in the non-profit including, director of OT, director of clinical specialists, and program director. In these roles, she has helped with programmatic improvements and development, running one-off weekend clinics for wheelchair skills and maintenance, managing student engagement, fundraising, and starting the Montana and virtual programs.
Throughout her career, Dawes has utilized her clinical expertise to educate students through fieldwork education, mentorship, and guest lecturing at various institutions. She joined the JWU faculty to continue her passion educating and passing on her knowledge to the next generation of occupational therapy leaders.

Education

• OTD, Boston University
• B.S./M.S., Occupational Therapy, Boston University

Teaching Interests

Her interests include holistic education, neurorehabilitation, emerging practice areas, and increasing diversity within the profession.

Scholarly Interests

Dawes has scholarly interests around the topics of holistic teaching, diversity, equity, and inclusion within occupational therapy, health equity and community impact, and maximizing occupational engagement after spinal cord injury.

Courses

• OTD7060: Occupational Perspective on Health
• OTD7210: Neuroscience Lab
• OTD8220: Research II
• OTD8250: Occupational Therapy Practice II Lab
• OTD8350: Contemporary Concepts
• OTD8360: Occupational Therapy Practice III Lab